1. Press releases

STOP MATERNAL MORTALITY CAUSED BY  LACK OF CARE 

 Rachelle Pierre 21 March 2022

 Marianne Jean faced health challenges as she sought prenatal care after moving from Haiti to the Dominican Republic Leaving her home, her family and all she knows is not an easy decision, But since she doesn’t have enough money to feed her children, it doesn’t really seem like a choice.  Unfortunately, this is a common situation in Haiti, one in five Haitians did not have enough to eat;again for hospital care, even before his condition worsened food and other insecurity,

 “What encouraged me to travel were above all the needs [in Haiti] , I was beginning to realize that the money was no longer enough,” says 33-year-old Marianne Jean.  “The day I left was hard because I had to say goodbye to my mother, to my first daughter, to leave her there ,in a country where no one is safe”

 pregnant women and newborns die every year in unhealthy situations

  economic collapse, fear of going out due to kidnapping, unemployment, political unrest and lack of basic healthcare and nutrition for years, marianne embarked on the treacherous journey in early 2021 to  across the Dominican border in hopes of continuing the development of her pregnancy, finding work and sending money to her family for food and other necessities.  After traveling all day and night in a bus, she arrived in Romana in the Dominican Republic “Then the next day, I started working right away to sell food in the construction sites.  »

 Marianne is a strong woman who is used to managing difficulties and is not discouraged by challenges.  But when Marianne was settling into her new life, things got complicated. Immigration began deportation every day and she could no longer leave, putting an end to the informal economy in which she worked.  Soon after, Marianne realizes that pregnancy can also be deadly if she  doesn’t have the right resources;  she is again in the same situation as the previous eone.

2e “When I arrived here, I suffered hardships and I was hungry, but because of that I did not give up, I continued, I continued… Little by little I succeeded  with the money I earned and took care of myself and my pregnancy.”

 Marianne Jean

Most of these deaths could be prevented with access to appropriate antenatal and prenatal care.  Access to antenatal care could be included in the government budget,

 “[Public health care centers] deny me any attention because I was a Haitian migrant, most want us to leave because we are migrants and have no papers.  Most of us have no papers they even deported a mother right away without her child after a caesarean section]”.

There are more women like Marianne who lose their lives and those of their children because of their sources of income, their housing, which makes it difficult to pay for prenatal care even when a woman can overcome all obstacles to access it.

 “when I was finally able to get to a clinic They gave me a checkup, I did some tests, I did my pregnancy checkups, everything to do with it because a lot of  places was not willing to give me medical care, and it’s very difficult because I couldn’t find a place to do medical tests, I couldn’t find a good place to do an ultrasound, unfortunately I lost the baby because I had unknowing complications from eclampsia”.

  It is more important than ever that the Haitian government devote funds to providing prenatal and postnatal care in the country.There are hundreds of women in the marianne position who would do anything to protect their children, and it is starting through prenatal care.